Service history question
Discussion
Hi
Having promised myself a Ferrari by the time I was 30, time to start considering it seriously (only 1 month to go!). Have always intended getting a 348 although have seen a few 355's for not much more money - i.e nice looking one on Autotrader in Glasgow for £35k.
My brother is a mechanic and we always service my cars. I was wondering how you feel this would affect future re-sale as he is not a Ferrari specialist. He has experience of working on a few Ferrari's and is an excellent mechanic however as he is not a recognised specialist, would this make the car hard to sell or really hurt the value?
Thanks for your advice.
Gavin
Having promised myself a Ferrari by the time I was 30, time to start considering it seriously (only 1 month to go!). Have always intended getting a 348 although have seen a few 355's for not much more money - i.e nice looking one on Autotrader in Glasgow for £35k.
My brother is a mechanic and we always service my cars. I was wondering how you feel this would affect future re-sale as he is not a Ferrari specialist. He has experience of working on a few Ferrari's and is an excellent mechanic however as he is not a recognised specialist, would this make the car hard to sell or really hurt the value?
Thanks for your advice.
Gavin
35k seems fairly cheap - wonder what the mileage is....and possibly it already has a patchy history hence the lowish price.
It kind of depends - a ferrari with no recent history would be very difficuly to shift and you would take a hit. If your brother could provide some sort of record of servicing - i.e. does he work at a garage which could be identified and put a stamp in the book - this alongside some receipts for genuine parts and while you would obviously take some account of this in the price, it all depends on the buyer and market at the time.
It kind of depends - a ferrari with no recent history would be very difficuly to shift and you would take a hit. If your brother could provide some sort of record of servicing - i.e. does he work at a garage which could be identified and put a stamp in the book - this alongside some receipts for genuine parts and while you would obviously take some account of this in the price, it all depends on the buyer and market at the time.
He works for a garage and the car would be serviced with genuine parts to the correct schedules but you have pretty much confirmed what I thought was likely. At the very least it looks like it would put a lot of potential purchasers off and make resale difficult.
Just to clarify, the reason for wanting to look after it ourselves is that for me, that is a large part of the ownership experience. I get to know the mechanics of the car very well and can spend lots of time cleaning things up etc. which a specialist would be unlikely to do. It is not a cost saving thing as I usually end up spending more than it would have cost to put the car in for a service as I replace any little thing I think necessary. I also know exactly what has been done and to my satisfaction.
Just to clarify, the reason for wanting to look after it ourselves is that for me, that is a large part of the ownership experience. I get to know the mechanics of the car very well and can spend lots of time cleaning things up etc. which a specialist would be unlikely to do. It is not a cost saving thing as I usually end up spending more than it would have cost to put the car in for a service as I replace any little thing I think necessary. I also know exactly what has been done and to my satisfaction.
944gav said:
He works for a garage and the car would be serviced with genuine parts to the correct schedules but you have pretty much confirmed what I thought was likely. At the very least it looks like it would put a lot of potential purchasers off and make resale difficult.
Just to clarify, the reason for wanting to look after it ourselves is that for me, that is a large part of the ownership experience. I get to know the mechanics of the car very well and can spend lots of time cleaning things up etc. which a specialist would be unlikely to do. It is not a cost saving thing as I usually end up spending more than it would have cost to put the car in for a service as I replace any little thing I think necessary. I also know exactly what has been done and to my satisfaction.
Yes, I agree. But everyone who is in the market for your car after you will rape you on the price.Just to clarify, the reason for wanting to look after it ourselves is that for me, that is a large part of the ownership experience. I get to know the mechanics of the car very well and can spend lots of time cleaning things up etc. which a specialist would be unlikely to do. It is not a cost saving thing as I usually end up spending more than it would have cost to put the car in for a service as I replace any little thing I think necessary. I also know exactly what has been done and to my satisfaction.
I'd ratherhave a car which I know someone has loved and cherished and worked on themselves (assuming they knew what they were doing...) in every way except resale value.
Those stamps are vital. It ain't necessarily fair or right, but that's the way it is.
Bset bet for you is to buy one without a service history and pamper it. You'll buy lower and sell lower. But you won't save anything overall except for the servicing you don't get done by the dealer..............
That car is discussed in Ferrari 355 Spyder thread lower down. Lots of problms and NO service history, which is probably why an apparently "cheap" car has not sold.
Answer to your question is that, unless your brother is a ferrari specialist and can provide receipts, it will make the car almost ocmpletely unsaleable! This is not a criticism of your brother it is simply an indication of the way the ferrari market works. History is VERY important. I, like many, would not even consider a car without history, at any price. Even if I was content with the vehicle I still would not buy it as resale would be almost impossible.
Good 355 spider will cost you at least £40k, unless you go for an unwanted colour. Make sure you get a full inspection from a ferrari specialist, when these cars break they really hurt your bank balance!!!
Answer to your question is that, unless your brother is a ferrari specialist and can provide receipts, it will make the car almost ocmpletely unsaleable! This is not a criticism of your brother it is simply an indication of the way the ferrari market works. History is VERY important. I, like many, would not even consider a car without history, at any price. Even if I was content with the vehicle I still would not buy it as resale would be almost impossible.
Good 355 spider will cost you at least £40k, unless you go for an unwanted colour. Make sure you get a full inspection from a ferrari specialist, when these cars break they really hurt your bank balance!!!
That is a BIG deduction (engine and gearbox) - £15k minimum even from an independant. Problem is even if you do that, you still have the problem of come time to sell! As long as you dont have to do the engine and box at least you could drop heavily when it is time to sell. However if you have to do the work, you have then paid the same as a good one, but still have no history! People are not just going to be worried about engine and box!
Chris355 said:
That is a BIG deduction (engine and gearbox) - £15k minimum even from an independant. Problem is even if you do that, you still have the problem of come time to sell! As long as you dont have to do the engine and box at least you could drop heavily when it is time to sell. However if you have to do the work, you have then paid the same as a good one, but still have no history! People are not just going to be worried about engine and box!
Good points well made.Avoid it like a coughing duck.
The one I was talking about is a Berlinetta, described as having a full documented history with the cambelt service done. It is Rosso/Crema and looks beatiful, very tempting at £35k - no mention of the mileage in the advert though. From what you guys are saying, unless I take it to a specialist/dealer for service I would really struggle to sell it again and if so, would loose about £10k off it's value. I am aware that Verdi have a good reputation but they are a bit far though as I am 10 miles north of Edinburgh. Is there anybody a bit nearer to me other than Greypaul (or whatever the Edinburgh main dealer is called these days)?
944gav said:
The one I was talking about is a Berlinetta, described as having a full documented history with the cambelt service done.
Is it the one at Anniesland??If so it has been for sale for well over a year as it was there when I was car shopping for an F355. Greypaul in Edinburgh won't really be any use to you as they dont tend to deal in 355/348s. Carlo at Topgear-cars will obviously be helpful but tends to have (much) more to do with Lamborghini than Ferrari in terms of sales, although I have mine serviced there.
Ferrari shopping up here in Scotlad isnt that easy. I actually took a flight down to London for a long-weekend when I was looking for a 355 and spent an afternoon at KHPC and also Verdi. That was a good thing to have done since I recon I saw about 10x F355s in the flesh and got a better feel for the type of car I wanted and also a better understanding (sometimes) of where the differences in price came from.
Good luck... but its worth it in the end!!!
renmure said:
Is it the one at Anniesland??
If so it has been for sale for well over a year as it was there when I was car shopping for an F355.
Yes that's the one. I noticed it had been up for a while and has just recently dropped from £37k to £35k. If it has been for sale for that long, i presume it will either have massive mileage or be a bit rough.If so it has been for sale for well over a year as it was there when I was car shopping for an F355.
It is really at the upper end of my budget though so I might be better sticking to the original plan and looking for a 348.
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